Maybe Next Year
by BaronessBlixen
Summary: It's New Year's Eve and Niles spends the last ten minutes doing what he always does: trying to find the courage to tell Daphne how he feels. One-shot.


**A/N:** I started writing this in July. I was under the impression that I had finished it – I was wrong. I desperately wanted to get it up today so I hope it's still good. It's based on a song, but I doubt that anyone recognizes it. And most importantly: Happy New Year!

* * *

Niles arrived at Frasier's New Year's party sans a date. Sure, he could have asked some woman but truth was he wasn't in the mood to make small talk with someone he was hardly interested in. The only woman he truly wanted to be with was there anyway: Daphne. Upon entering the apartment, as always, his eyes immediately landed on her. Her radiant beauty just caught his eyes. Ever since he had seen her for the first time five years ago, she had bedazzled and jinxed him. Almost in trance, he entered the apartment.

"Hello Niles," Frasier greeted him, knowing very well where his brother's attention was at.

"Hello." Niles answered absent-mindedly. His feet carried him where he wanted to be the most.

**10**

Ten minutes to the new year and Daphne was not alone. She was swarmed by men and women alike. Niles couldn't blame them; she looked stunning in her red dress. It reminded him of the one she'd worn at the Snowball. It wasn't the same dress – naturally, he would have recognized it right away – but very similar. Niles' fingers tingled with the desire to touch the soft fabric of the dress, and to touch her as well.

"Dr. Crane." Daphne greeted him with a warm smile, just like she always did. Niles was only able to smile back at her, words not in his repertoire at the moment.

"Another Dr. Crane." A strange woman said suggestively. In comparison with Daphne, she paled. Niles was sure she was a beautiful woman. He could guess with the long blond hair and the dress that pronounced her eyes. Were he any less smitten with Daphne, he might have considered looking at her more than just fleetingly. But tonight, Niles was a man with a plan. And the only woman this plan included was the woman with the warmest eyes and smile right in front of him called Daphne.

**9**

The night was clear and many guests used the balcony to stare into the starry night, or just to talk. With some chagrin, Niles watched Daphne and an unknown, handsome guy standing there. All he could see were their backs. He watched them, trying to make them turn around. If nothing else, he wanted to see Daphne's face. As beautiful as certain features from behind were, nothing compared to her face.

"Niles, stop staring at her!" Frasier reminded him angrily, but silently so no one else would hear them. Niles hadn't even seen his brother approach. Part of him constantly realized how embarrassing his less than subtle interest in Daphne truly was. There was just no way to stop himself. While his brother was convinced of his crush as a crazy obsession, Niles himself knew no words for his emotions. All he knew was that after five years, he had come to a crossroad. This night, he would choose a new path. If he thought about it, New Year's Eve was the perfect opportunity to find out if he could do it. And if Daphne could regard him as anything else than her boss's brother and her friend.

**8**

Eventually, people started dancing. Inebriated and laughing, tripping over their own feet, but dancing. Niles watched Frasier in his attempts to woe a woman and decided it was time for him to do the same. Daphne was always here and there, constantly dividing her time between party guests. His desire was to just sweep her away from all of them, to have her only look at him. Talk to him. Contrary to Frasier's belief, Niles wasn't just interested in Daphne physically. Certainly, her beauty had overwhelmed him right away. But what had made him fall in love with her was everything else; her compassion, her charming craziness and her friendship were so much more important. After all, had it only been physical attraction he'd long have given in. All those times they'd come awfully close. Moments Niles sometimes regretted in lonely nights. Watching her from a distance at the close of the year he was certain they'd done the right thing.

**7**

All he lacked was the courage to ask her to dance with him. In Niles' defense, she was dancing with another man already. He was shy to just cut in. Then again, he was her friend, wasn't he? This was a New Year's Eve party. If you couldn't spend it with your partner, you at least deserved the right to be with your friends. Niles sipped his terribly sweet punch (what was Frasier thinking!) and found the courage deep within him to walk over to Daphne. As he did so, he remembered the time they'd danced at the Snowball. The tango he never thought he'd be able to manage. She had enabled him. She had set something free in him that night that he would be forever grateful for. As he walked towards her with these thoughts running through his head, he wondered if he could possible give her the same. Niles knew he would give everything, spend every waking hour, trying to make her feel the same way.

**6**

"Dr. Crane!" Daphne exclaimed grinning. Niles stared up at her, because he was on the ground. Had he tripped?

"You tripped." Daphne confirmed as if she could read his mind. She offered her hand to help him up and Niles hesitated just a moment. This was not at all how he imagined the night to go. He wanted to appear the dashing handsome man who swept her away. Instead he acted the tripping fool who drew the wrong kind of attention to him. Slightly awkward, he finally took Daphne's warm hand and got up. Used to public embarrassment, Niles looked around, but no one seemed to care for their scene. There was only him and Daphne.

"Thank you, Daphne. I didn't see anything." Looking at the ground, Niles still didn't see anything.

"Must have been your own feet then." Anyone else might have said it with spite, but she just smiled at him warmly without any sign of irony. Niles wondered whether she was tipsy, or not.

"Would you still allow my feet and me to ask you for a dance?" Niles decided it was truly now or never. She couldn't be more beautiful, more enchanting than this moment. He would have never forgiven himself had he not asked her.

"Why, yes, Dr. Crane. I'd love to dance with you."

And so they began; gently, he took her hand in his. This time it felt like it was supposed to feel as he led her towards the center of the room.

**5**

"I love New Year's Eve." Daphne said dreamily as they danced together. Niles tried to keep up with her. She was so much better at this than he was.

"It's a nice party." Niles replied vaguely. He never wanted to let her go again. People were preparing for the moment. That special moment at midnight. His heart beat fast. If he didn't let her go, he could spend it with her. Kiss her.

"Oh, I'm so beat!" She laughed and they stopped dancing. Niles was disappointed but didn't show it to her. So many men in the distance seemed ready to take her away from him. Niles wouldn't let them. She belonged to him – didn't she? As he watched her, he knew realized she didn't belong to anyone.

"Thank you, Dr. Crane. No matter what you think yourself, you're a great dancer." She gently kissed his cheek and left him standing there. Niles rubbed his cheek, so warm and tingly from her touch. This was how his new year would start: another missed chance. Another opportunity wasted.

**4**

A waiter passed around glasses full of sparkling champagne. Four minutes to the big finish. Daphne was laughing with people Niles had never seen before. How come she knew Frasier's guests better than he did?

"Have some fun!" His father yelled at him from the arms of some woman. Even his father was dancing and having fun. The only person unable to enjoy the party was Niles. He had made so many plans beforehand. He had planned to just tell Daphne how much she meant to him and hope for the best. All he had gotten so far was a dance and a kiss on the cheek; the kind of kiss gay friends and relatives received. He no longer wanted to belong to that category. He gulped down his champagne and waved for the waiter to bring him another glass. Two more glasses of sparkling alcohol later and he almost felt confident enough. Before the waiter left again, Niles reached for yet another glass. His fine motor skills were already compromised.

His eyes found Daphne again. She didn't see him. She never seemed to see him.

**3**

Most people were drunk, so it didn't matter that Niles was as well. If he even was drunk, because he was no longer able to tell. His body gently swayed to the music and he was all alone, since Frasier seemed to have found a woman. Niles was the only one who had no one. He still had three minutes left to find the woman of his dreams. Of course he had found her five years ago in this very apartment. She just didn't know it. Three minutes to change all that. His mind no longer worked as fast. Just when he decided to walk over to where she was standing, she seemed to run away. Not that she had seen him; to Niles it still felt like a rejection.

**2 **

He wasn't drunk. Niles pretended to be drunk to find courage within himself, but it just wasn't there. He made peace with himself, his mistakes and his life. He would find another woman who would probably be more like Maris and less like Daphne. It was just the way it was supposed to be. In the new year, just like it had always been.

"I finally found you! I've been looking for you!" The voice sounded like Daphne but why would she have been looking for him?

"I have been here all the time." Niles told the voice. There was no face to the beautiful sound. Maybe he was drunk after all.

"You've had too much to drink, haven't you? I was looking forward to dancing into the new year with you. I just needed a quick break." Finally Niles could see her right there in front of him. His eyes focused on her and he could only hope he wasn't dreaming. The alcohol seemed to drip out of his pores, like sweat. Daphne had saved him – did she even realize what she could do to him?

"No, no I haven't. I've just been waiting for the right woman to find me." Daphne blushed, but it could have been the light. Niles decided it wasn't; it was his compliment.

"Let's dance." She whispered.

**1**

They were in heaven. A waltz was playing and Niles led Daphne as if he'd been born to dance. Daphne was the most beautiful creature in the room, like an angel did she appear in the light. Faces turned to watch them. Niles knew he had to be dreaming.

"The countdown!" someone yelled, "Only one more minute!" Neither Niles nor Daphne paid attention to anything but themselves.

Daphne slowed them down when the countdown came to the last ten seconds. Never before in his life had Niles felt like this. Could this be real? All his hopes were suddenly coming true. Daphne was in his arms and she seemed happy to be there.

"Nine…eight…seven…" Niles was unable to act, he merely reacted to everything Daphne did. Her hands landed on his ribcage which tightened; he wasn't sure he could go on breathing. Her face inched closer as the crowd cheered. They were waiting for the new year. For Niles it was going to be the start of a new life.

Three – their noses touched,

Two – Niles' eyes closed,

One – their lips met in a first, shy contact,

"Happy New Year!" The crowd exploded around them. Someone started singing 'Auld Lang Syne' and more and more people joined in. At least the ones who weren't kissing.

"Am I dreaming?" Niles asked when Daphne drew away from him. She was grinning, but Niles didn't see it. He kept his eyes closed, too afraid that he had indeed been dreaming. He could still taste Daphne on his lips, but dreams could be so real. Feelings so deceiving.

"Happy New Year," Daphne whispered against Niles' lips, "It wasn't a dream. If it were… I wouldn't want to wake up meself."

"You-You-You." Niles tried to say something, to give all of this a meaning. Never had he believed that she could reciprocate his feelings. There had never been signs – had there? He opened his eyes and looked into hers.

"Shhh, let's not analyze anything. At least not tonight. Let's just… enjoy this, alright?" There was fear in her eyes, but she had already been so much braver than he could ever be.

"I think… I think this is going to be a wonderful new year." He said and instead of pondering their future and the implications, he leaned forward and kissed Daphne again.

Nothing else mattered in the first few moments of the new year.

**END**


End file.
